The act of stabbing does not fall under justifiable self-defense Multiple departments work together to crack down on pyramid selling activities Legal professionals have stated that the current legal prohibition of pyramid selling falls under the jurisdiction of the industrial and commercial department. The investigation and punishment of pyramid selling-related criminal activities are handled by the economic investigation department of the public security bureau, while crimes such as illegal restriction of personal freedom, harm, or even fatal incidents caused by pyramid selling are dealt with by the criminal investigation department of the public security bureau and local police stations. Due to the lack of dedicated funds and specialized information resource databases, it often leads to poor information flow among functional departments, failing to form a powerful united front for crackdowns. The Baqiao industrial and commercial department once established an information archive for pyramid selling individuals, and this practice should be promoted throughout the city or even the province, tracking the whereabouts of these people and imposing severe punishments cumulatively.
Yesterday, at the crime scene, Li Liangsheng (front right), who was deceived into joining a pyramid selling organization, and his female internet friend Zhou Mingying (front left) ignored each other. This photo was taken by journalist Miao Bo.
In this case, suspect Li Liangsheng was initially a victim. His intention to escape was correct, but he took extreme measures, leading to irreversible serious consequences.
The Weiyang District Court sentenced a case where death occurred due to pyramid selling activities. A 21-year-old girl named Deng Xiangxiang recruited her classmate Tu Mou for pyramid selling, which was refused. She then locked him in a room. While escaping, Tu Mou fell from the second floor and died. Deng Xiangxiang was sentenced to four and a half years in prison.
After graduating from junior high school, Li Liangsheng first worked in agriculture in his hometown. About six or seven years ago, he went to Shanghai to learn cooking in a hot pot restaurant opened by a fellow townsman. At the beginning of this year, being single, he met a female internet friend named "Xunzhao" while chatting online under the name of "fate." The female internet friend turned out to be his fellow townsman from Sichuan, Zhou Mingying.
The village party secretary of Wanghe Village in Liantian Street Office of Weinan High-tech Zone was beaten up when investigating pyramid selling activities. Police officers were also controlled by pyramid selling individuals during law enforcement. More than 300 police forces from the Weinan Public Security Bureau were dispatched, successfully subduing 77 pyramid selling individuals resisting law enforcement violently.
After getting acquainted with the female internet friend, Li Liangsheng, a man from Sichuan over thirty years old, agreed to meet her in Xi'an but was deceived into joining a pyramid selling organization. When he tried to escape, he was beaten up by a group of people, prompting him to take out a fruit knife he carried with him and wildly stab around, resulting in one death and one injury. Yesterday, the suspect Li Liangsheng and five pyramid selling individuals were escorted by the Weiyang police to identify the crime scene.
Believing the lies of the female internet friend, he traveled a long distance to keep the appointment but ended up trapped in a pyramid selling scheme.
On March 25, 2010,
Among them, in early April, a man from Gansu lured his pregnant girlfriend to Zeyang Village, Xiekou Street Office,Lintong District, restricting her freedom and forcing her to recruit new members. Her refusal led her to jump from the second-floor window to escape, resulting in lumbar vertebrae fractures and miscarriage. However, the pyramid selling individuals did not send the injured person to the hospital for treatment. Starting from March this year, the Lintong police, together with the industry and commerce department, destroyed 27 pyramid selling dens, dispersed more than 400 people, and criminally detained over 30 pyramid selling leaders and key members according to the law.
On the evening of March 2, 2009
On March 3, 2009
Legal professionals call for Xi'an City to increase the intensity of crackdowns, forming a strong united front through multi-department cooperation.
The earliest illegal pyramid selling activities relied on physical goods to recruit people, such as health products and cosmetics. In the past two to three years, as the state's crackdown on pyramid selling has intensified, the previous method of using physical goods to recruit people has disappeared. Currently, pyramid selling is purely a "conceptual" pyramid selling, meaning the use of fictitious items to directly recruit people.
A police officer handling the case said that in this case, the suspect Li Liangsheng, who was deceived into a pyramid selling den, carrying a fruit knife and stabbing others does not constitute justifiable self-defense. However, considering that Li Liangsheng is also a victim of pyramid selling, the court may mitigate his sentence appropriately in the future.
Minutes later, police officers from Tanjia Police Station of Weiyang Branch of the Public Security Bureau arrived at the scene. The man sent to the hospital for emergency treatment was already unconscious and unable to speak.
The injured Zhao and Lu Fufeng ran out of the house, and the rest seized the knife and continued beating him. Subsequently, Zhao unfortunately died, and Lu Fufeng suffered minor injuries.
The Xi'an Intermediate People's Court announced the verdict in the first trial of a case involving "killing the superior due to uneven profit distribution," sentencing defendant Lu Jun to death according to the law.
Attempting to escape, he was beaten and stabbed someone to death.
Originally, this was a series of interconnected cases: illegal pyramid selling, illegal detention, and fatal assault cases, all intertwined.
Multiple police officers and industry and commerce cadres believe that the structure of pyramid selling organizations currently exhibits new characteristics: evolving from a simple hierarchical pyramid network into a tree-crown-like interwoven relationship. Ren Kanglao, the instructor of the Economic Investigation Brigade of the Lin Tong Branch of the Public Security Bureau, said that in the current pyramid selling organizational structure, the lowest-level manager is the "dormitory leader." Each dormitory leader manages seven to eight or even dozens of pyramid selling individuals, while those managing two to three dormitory leaders are C-level management figures. Those responsible for managing three C-level figures are B-level management figures, and those managing multiple B-level figures are the highest-level A-level figures.
A 19-year-old young man from Sichuan named Xiao Changyong was deceived into an illegal pyramid selling den in Xiwang Street Office, Baqiao District, Xi'an City. That night, Xiao Changyong attempted to escape but was obstructed. Xiao Changyong (who has been criminally detained by the Baqiao police) committed a violent act with a knife, resulting in the death of Liu Yunhui, the organizer of the pyramid selling group and a "lecturer."
"The unconscious man, Zhao, 26 years old, from Sichuan, was already brain dead when sent to the hospital," Officer Zhang Weixin said. "Doctors mentioned that even if he survived, he would be a vegetative state patient. On April 24, Zhao unfortunately passed away."
"Pyramid selling organizations exhibit new features, transforming from 'soft confinement' of deceived individuals into violent events or illegal detention cases," said Mr. Deng, a police officer with over twenty years of experience in Xi'an, yesterday.
Blood-stained cases triggered by pyramid selling
New features of pyramid selling
Due to causing death by injury, suspect Li Liangsheng was criminally detained by the Weiyang police. Due to suspected illegal detention, pyramid selling head Lu Fufeng and pyramid selling individuals Zhang Zhongqi, Chu Lan, and Chang Shenlong were all criminally detained.
Ren Kanglao, the instructor of the Economic Investigation Brigade of the Lin Tong Branch of the Public Security Bureau, said that they discovered during their investigations that pyramid selling dens not only involve kidnapping, illegal detention, harm, threats, intimidation, humiliation, and beatings but also internal 'violent uprisings' among pyramid selling individuals.
On July 30, 2009
Yesterday, multiple police officers, industry and commerce cadres, and legal professionals analyzed that this case highlights the 'weak points' such as the lack of united front efforts and legal blind spots.
After getting off the bus, he was taken to a fourth-floor civilian house in Baihua Village, Weiyang District. He found out that it was actually a pyramid selling den.
As he forcibly tried to leave, Zhao and Lu Fufeng blocked him, leading to an argument. Li Liangsheng was beaten by pyramid selling individuals, and in a panic, he pulled out a switchblade from his backpack and wildly swung it around, successively injuring Zhao and Lu Fufeng.
Police investigations revealed that this was a pyramid selling organization that used the lure of selling fictional cosmetics, coercing each new member to pay a fee of 2800 yuan through deception or even violence.
Through interviews, police controlled three men and one bruised and swollen-faced man in a small room on the fourth floor of a civilian house in Group Five, Baihua Village. As the investigation deepened, the cause of the incident shocked the police. The bruised and swollen-faced man was named Li Liangsheng, 31 years old, from Yanjiang District, Ziyang City, Sichuan Province. He was deceived into a pyramid selling den and killed someone while attempting to escape.
Police remind citizens that if they are deceived into a pyramid selling den, they should pretend to comply to avoid unlawful violent harm. When escaping, they must not act rashly or resort to violence, but rather find opportunities to contact family and friends or report the situation to the police.
On April 18 this year, the female internet friend invited him to Xi'an with the promise of finding a job paying four to five thousand yuan per month. With the intention of deepening their relationship and looking for a job, he agreed to meet her. At 5 a.m. on April 21, he arrived in Xi'an by train and at 9 a.m., the female internet friend and another woman came to pick him up.
During the conversation, Li Liangsheng's mobile phone was taken by the female internet friend. When he realized he had been deceived into a pyramid selling den, he requested to leave but was strongly dissuaded by Zhang Zhongqi, Chu Lan, and Chang Shenlong.
This set of articles was written by reporter Cheng Bin and intern Ding Ning.
At 10 a.m. yesterday, at the crime scene, Li Liangsheng, handcuffed, sat silently alongside 23-year-old female youth Zhou Mingying (alias Zhou Xiaomei), who was also handcuffed. Beside them, four other suspects squatted together.
Multiple police officers indicated that the newly revised Criminal Law of our country added the crime of organizing pyramid selling, but its constitutive elements are very strict, including case value and number of victims (one person developing 30 others), making it difficult to enforce in practice. Pyramid selling organizations often circumvent the law, with case values and population numbers on the edge of legality, making it hard to hold them legally accountable.
Another police officer surnamed Wang said that originally, it was purely recruiting people through deception and soft persuasion, but it evolved into illegally restricting personal freedom. And judging from recent multiple cases of harm or even fatalities, pyramid selling organizations have transformed into using violent means to recruit people and even directly rob them.
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